hatch chili's-they'll do one of two things (besides just clear your sinuses!)

alrighty then, i slept well, and was up early enough to enjoy the little breakfast area. i wasn't expecting too much, so when the girls arrived we looked over the breakfast bar, and it was good. i may have copied sabrina's biscuit/egg/sausage option and it was satisfying. from there, always a necessity: starbucks to start the day right. it always helps set the mood and pace of the day!

as fate would have it, we arrived at the location where they had the previous training, but there was no one there (a hotel meeting room), cue a frantic trail of calls to find out where the location was to be for today, as it was not in any of the emails, nor was it on their training site page...uh oh. panic...not sure how many numbers or persons were talked to (lost count) before receiving a text from the appropriate person. all i can say is that it is certainly a good idea to be early (as we were), and only minutes from the new location. no worries, a little shot of adrenaline is good for the body! lots of breathing and thinking... we were still early and sabrina and julie k were quick to set up, each jumping into action, doing what they do, like a well-oiled machine!

when it was time to begin, there was a pretty full room! they were very organized and helpful at the sign-in table, and they had more coffee. good sign. projector-check! mic-check (for now)! computers and internet-check! finding the right dongle...check! posters up-check! quick trip to the bathroom-check!

and so it began. with every training, there is bound to be a naysayer, at least at the beginning. most of the time, they just need reassurance, and to be able to see the benefit...and so we had ours. and of course, they wrote questions they had on post its so they could be addressed...and it used to bother me in our meetings and trainings when i felt that people weren't listening (i.e. cutting things, knitting...the like) but i've come to realize that sometimes it's the doing something with your hands that helps you focus...(not you, reader, but if you are knitting right now, not even offended). it's the sleepers you have to worry about (and we had one of those, bless her heart).

so, yes, the best thing you can do when you have a knitter is compliment them on their knitting, whether they're your colors, or not! the hat came along really well! in fact, she said she could teach me...

the mic was a little finicky. at first, it was doing really well, but then satan possessed it (i don't know how else to describe the shrill shrieking). and once that happened, sabrina had to be contained in her own little invisible box- i was hoping at one point that she'd come out of the box to wake up the sleeper. as i was getting ready to go to the back of the room (bouncer, crowd control), i saw her head bob, and her eyes peeked open, so i took advantage of it and leaned down as i was walking by, and said something to the effect of, "are you getting some valuable information?!" and from that point, she sat up a little straighter, and started looking at her neighbor's table. good times.

nobody puts baby in the corner! unless you're in farmington at this facility, then sometimes you have to put baby in the corner...

in the initial introduction, sabrina named us julie 1 and julie 2, and that was how the participants began referring to us as well-comical, i tell ya! it was good to be back with the participants to answer questions that came up throughout, and they had some good questions, so that was fun. one group was getting a little loud in the back, so i did the whole teacher-proximity thing, and when sabrina said something pertinent, i mean all of it was, but at this point, i knew a couple of the tables around them were unable to hear what was being said, so i addressed them, as they were talking about something non-relevant, and said, "hey, i'm not sure if you heard what she just said, but [repeat what was said]" and they returned to the training at hand. and before we knew it, it was lunch time!

now, i will say this, i had early warning about the seriousness of the hatch chili in these parts...new mexico ain't playin' around. the eatery was a really quaint little joint-very comfortable. the food-not comfort food, unless your stomach is lined with cast iron. so yes, it went kinda' like this:

straight up, enough to put hair on your chest or turn you into one of daenerys targaryen's dragons...and since i am not about to depict a hairy chest-ew, we're going with dragon. (sabrina, you can thank me later for that!)

 fortunately the server saw that it was not being consumed, and brought the tomato fennel soup, which was delicious! so he earned his tip! it really was a cute little place, as i said before-

upon our return, thankfully siesta is not a part of this culture, and everyone was on task as we really got into the reports and looking at their own information, resources, etc. by the end of the session, great reviews, and it never ceases to make me smile when "that one person" comes up and says, "yes, this was great! i was angry when i arrived because i HAD to use this, and now i'm actually really excited to use what i've learned!" yep, loving it! and as participants were leaving a couple favorites said: julie1 and julie2, like thing one and thing two! #tshirtsinthemaking?

so once all was said and done, we made our way back to albuquerque, with mario andretti at the wheel, we were going to make up time we didn't even realize we had to make up!!

a little more to finish up tomorrow-
ju1